The end of week 6!

Week 6 of our building exprience has now come to an end.  Despite many people believing that this process is quite slow, I am so surprised when I think back to the fact that five weeks ago the end of the day brought some scratches to the topsoil. 
Just a quick recap of the past 6 weeks:

End of the day, August 27th.  The digging has started.

End of the  day, September 3, excavation is complete!

End of the day, September 10.  Gravel put down and footings installed.

End of day, September 17.  Slab completed for garages and foyer, preparations for slab for house.

September 24.  Concrete slab being poured for house.

October 1, exterior cellar walls are free standing!

Joern also met with a representative from Deutsche Bank.  They are one of two banks we are considering to be our mortgage lender.  What is so attractive about this bank is their ability to guarantee the interest rate for 25 years, which in Germany, is a big deal, as most mortgages last 10 years, and then you need to either pay off the mortgage or refinance.
Here's what Joern explained to me:
- despite locking in for 25 years, we are also allowed to leave the mortgage in 10 years.  We can either pay off the mortgage in 10 years, refinance if the interest rate is better, or stay with this mortgage.
-we are allowed to pay an extra 5% annually on the mortgage without any penalty.
- because we are locking in for 25 years, we will be paying a higher interest rate, 4%, but the positive is that if the interest rate has gone up in 10 years, we're still paying a low 4%.
- this mortgage is a simple, classsic mortgage.  The other bank is offering us a two-part mortgage, one half would be classic mortgage, the other half would be a building-savings contract, so this one is a little more transparent.